How do you follow up your improbably successful hit about a foul-mouthed teddy bear? Make a movie in the genre that, of late, has been improbably successful: the Western. Yep, Family Guy mastermind, upcoming Oscar host, and Ted director Seth MacFarlane is next helming a Western comedy in the mode of Blazing Saddles called A Million Ways to Die in the West. And Hollywood.com has confirmed that its comedic pedigree just got a major boost, in that Charlize Theron is in final talks to star. She'll play an outlaw's wife who teaches an easily spooked farmer (MacFarlane) to shoot in order to win back his wife, who left him after a gunfight.
The Western lay fallow in Hollywood for so long that fans of sagebrush and saguaros have been particularly excited by the blockbuster success of a couple recent oaters: 2010's Coen Brothers remake of True Grit, which grossed $171 million domestically (off a $38 million budget!), and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, which has scored $147 million since it's Dec. 25 release. That's a lot of money for your saddlebag. Not to mention that Disney looked to the Old West when they pinned their hopes on what could be their next big franchise-starter, The Lone Ranger (out July 3). Still two hit Westerns, and one hoped-for hit that's far from a sure thing, aren't enough for us to declare that Hollywood cinema's greatest, and most uniquely American, genre is ready for a full-fledged revival.
And make no mistake, the Western is Hollywood's greatest genre. It's the summing up of American mythmaking, a dusty canvas on which filmmakers have interrogated the ideals and values, compromises and crimes that make up the American character and have defined this country's history. Far from being some retrograde idealization of a violent, even genocidal time, the best Westerns like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, Ride Lonesome, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Unforgiven don't seek to escape into the past but use history to explain the present. They also just tell damn good stories. So are cowboys and outlaws really set for a comeback? Well, excuse the pun, but we'll have to hold our horses. Here are four reasons why the recent crop of Western hits may not signal a lasting revival.
1. The Lone Ranger
Yes, Disney has invested a lot of faith in this project. A reported $250 million worth of faith. That's a production budget that's going to be extremely difficult to recoup. It has likable stars — Armie Hammer as the titular masked avenger and Johnny Depp as his Native American sidekick Tonto — and a classic premise time-tested on radio and TV. But Disney recently spent $200+ million on another film with a classic premise, John Carter, a bomb so big the company ended up cleaning house at its movie division. Not to mention that Lone Ranger director Gore Verbinski's last two Pirates of the Caribbean movies were pretty much the definition of bloated, CGI-larded excess. If The Lone Ranger fails — reports of shooting delays aren't promising — it'll stop the Western's revival right in its tracks. And even if it's a hit, what success it achieves will be difficult to duplicate. It's not like there are many other instantly recognizable Western franchises like Lone Ranger just waiting to be resurrected. You also have to recognize that the best Westerns of recent years have come from directors with a vision. And we all know...
2. ...Directors With a Vision Can Be Hard To Come By.
True Grit had the Coens. Django Unchained had Tarantino. But for every hit like either of those, there are multiple non-auteur duds like Appaloosa, The Missing, or The Alamo. The Coens and Tarantino already have fans who will come out to see anything they do. And no wonder. Because they're able to tap into the inherent flexibility of the genre and make it completely their own, not just homages or nostalgia trips. How many other directors are there waiting to contribute something really new and valuable to the Western? Maybe MacFarlane can be that director if he can actually make a comedy that deconstructs the Western without merely replicating what Blazing Saddles did 40 years ago.

The first trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean team Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer's blockbuster treatment of the classic serial character The Lone Ranger had a surprising lack of emphasis on the masked cowboy. Instead, the spotlight (as one probably should have assumed would be the case) was focused on the masked crusader's second in command, the Native American guide Tonto played by one of the last remaining A-listers, Johnny Depp. After hooking audiences into billion dollar grosses with his four Pirates movies and proving himself capable of carrying anything (even the maligned Alice in Wonderland), Depp was set up as the selling point of the epic Western — even if he was only a sidekick.
The Lone Ranger wouldn't work as The Johnny Depp Comedy Hour, but luckily, the second trailer for Verbinski's cowboy adventure makes it clear that the movie has more to offer. Armie Hammer gets his day in the high noon sun as the titular hero, chiseled and ready to deliver justice back to the Old West after being revived from the dead by Tonto. Verbinski looks back in Pirates form with some spectacularly executed, large-scale action, swapping pirate ships and swashbuckling for trains and horse chases without losing any of the thrills.
Unlike Captain Jack from Pirates, Depp's Tonto does appear to be a supporting player, filling us in on expositional details with his character's methodical, broken English. He's not playing Tonto for humor, but there's still a wink-wink feel to his performance. Whether he'll fall into caricature or form a real bond with Hammer's Ranger could make or break The Lone Ranger. Watching the duo kick down doors, derail trains, and outrun explosions will look spiffy, especially in the hands of a guy like Verbinski, but it'll be hard to swallow if everyone comes off as goofy.
Check out the trailer for the movie below and weigh in — does Lone Ranger have Pirates potential or is Depp just playing dress up with big budget action behind him?
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: Walt Disney Pictures]
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Brad Bird’s tweet over the weekend that he will not be directing Star Wars: Episode VII has left the job of helming the next installment of the most influential franchise in movie history up in the air. Especially when you consider that J.J. Abrams has also all but passed on the project and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy’s most frequent collaborator, Steven Spielberg, recently told 60 Minutes he’s no longer interested in directing big budget action films. Star Wars fanatic Joss Whedon is already committed to The Avengers 2, which, like Episode VII, is slated for a 2015 release, all but scratching him from contention as well. Then, there are fanboy favorites Neill Blomkamp (District 9 and 2013’s Elysium), Christopher Nolan, and Alfonso Cuaron, who seem unlikely to work for Lucasfilm’s new parent, The Walt Disney Company. Rather, Disney has shown throughout its history that it likes to hire from within for its biggest projects. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up what we deem at this moment to be the eight most likely contenders for the Episode VII directing gig—contenders with previous connections to the Mouse—and have calculated what we think are the odds of each candidate to land the job. With any luck we’ll be the Nate Silver of Star Wars prognosticating.
JON FAVREAU
Previous Disney Relationship: All but single-handedly made the idea of in-house Marvel moviemaking a reality with 2008’s Iron Man, the first property that the comics giant self-produced rather than co-produced with another studio (like their previous X-Men films with 20th Century Fox and the Spider-Man films with Sony). Iron Man and its $585 million worldwide box office made Marvel a “must have” acquisition for Disney.
Why He’s a Contender: A master of glossy pop entertainment, Favreau knows how to assemble an action scene. But just as important, he knows how to create vivid characters and bounce them off one another with quirky, comedic verve. Just look at 2010’s Iron Man 2, which is basically just a screwball comedy starring guys in metal suits trading witty repartee. He could bring a much-needed sense of humor to Episode VII. Better yet, Favreau’s already a Lucasfilm vet, having voiced Pre Vizsla, a Mandalorian baddie on Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Read Our Recaps Here!) who remains a major antagonist on the Cartoon Network show as of this, its fifth season. Favreau may also be looking for a new project to get his hands on. Warner Bros. recently put the Jersey Boys adaptation he’d been working on in turnaround. And, come on, regardless of the results, Favreau managed to get Harrison Ford out of mothballs for Cowboys &amp; Aliens. Who’s to say he couldn’t snag him again for Star Wars?
Odds of Landing the Job: 3-1
JOE JOHNSTON
Previous Disney Relationship: Took the reins of one of the most unusual—and for our money, underrated—Disney live-action projects ever: 1991’s The Rocketeer. Also directed 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger for Disney subsidiary Marvel.
Why He’s a Contender To Helm Episode VII: With films like Jumanji and Hidalgo, Johnston has proven his ability to mix kid-friendly action with grown-up menace, and in The Rocketeer and Captain America he captured a retro aesthetic very much in line with Star Wars' own ‘40s movie-serial template. Most importantly, however, Johnston is the man who designed Boba Fett’s signature armor when he worked as a Lucasfilm production designer way back in 1978. Considering that Fett is on the shortlist of Original Trilogy characters fans want to see in Episode VII, and that Johnston himself has talked about directing a live-action Boba Fett movie, he could very easily be George Lucas’ successor in the director’s chair.
Odds of Landing the Job: 4-1
GORE VERBINSKI
Previous Disney Relationship: Filled the Mouse’s coffers with $2.7 billion from the first three Pirates of the Caribbean. Now directing the high risk (but possibly high-reward) Lone Ranger reboot starring Armie Hammer as the masked gunslinger and Johnnie Depp as faithful companion Tonto.
Why He’s a Contender: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl could have flopped as easily as 2003’s other themepark-based Disney film: The Haunted Mansion. But Verbinski took a concept that some found as crazy and laughable as the idea of more Star Wars movies and brought it to vivid, briny life. Regardless of what you think of Pirates of the Caribbean, it connected with a lot of people. However, reports of production difficulties on the set of The Lone Ranger, the budget of which has ballooned to a rumored $250 million, could stymie his chances of getting the gig.
Odds of Landing the Job: 8-1
LEE UNKRICH
Previous Disney Relationship: Directed Toy Story 3 and co-directed Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo.
Why He’s a Contender: By directing Episode VII scribe Michael Arndt’s screenplay for Toy Story 3, he made grown men weep. What better time for Unkrich to make the leap to live-action than by reteaming with Arndt for Star Wars?
Odds of Landing the Job: 10-1
(Moviefone)

"Economics": the subject of many wishy-washy political debates, the scariest subject in 11th grade, and the factor that pushes movie directors to get creative. In Hollywood, making films is a numbers game, a challenge that influences the casting, the script, the look and feel, and well-trimmed end product. On one hand, having a boatload of money for every project seems like a logical desire, but sometimes the pressure of making a smaller project invigorates a director and his team in the best of ways.
After helming the big budget remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) returned to his roots for the indie horror flick Sinister, which arrives in theaters on Oct. 12. While it may not sport the special effects budget that can make a swirling sphere spaceship land in the middle of Central Park, Derrickson squeezes every ounce of fear from every frame of the Ethan Hawke-led haunted house tale. It's economical — and scary as all hell.
Derrickson will surely return to the world of blockbusters, but his wise decision to further explore independent filmmaking feels evolutionary. It's not a step backwards, but a challenge that pays off fruitfully. And he's not the only one who sees the advantage of dabbling in both sides of the budgetary line. Like Derrickson, here are five directors who are playing in every sandbox in hopes of making great films:
Steven Soderbergh
The prime example of a director who continually goes back to the independent well, Soderbergh found mainstream success with the Ocean's 11 franchise but never lost his penchant for helming smaller fiction films (The Girlfriend Experience) or documentaries (And Everything Is Fine). This year, the sticking-to-his-guns sensibilities finally paid off: his reasonably-budgeted male exotic dancer flick Magic Mike blew up at the box office and rivaled the summer's major blockbusters.
Sam Raimi
After three consecutive Spider-Man films, the Evil Dead director went back to his horror roots with the low-budget Drag Me to Hell, which played directly to the hearts of his devout fans. Before taking the superhero franchise, he made a similar move, transitioning from genre fare and the sports flick For the Love of the Game to indie supernatural drama The Gift. Raimi continues to work as a producer for low-budget genre movies while tackling bigger pictures (his next is OZ: The Great and Powerful) and he'll most likely return to the world of horror soon: the director recently teased that he's writing a new horror movie with his brother that he plans to shoot after OZ.
Kathryn Bigelow
All through the late '80s and '90s, Bigelow established herself as the go-to female action director in Hollywood. Movies like Point Break, Near Dark, and K-19: The Widowmaker earned her cred as a creative who could tackle the same material as her male counterparts. Then she made a surprise move that would earn her even more respect and, eventually, the first Best Picture Oscar ever awarded to a woman: The Hurt Locker was made for chump change compared to most war movies, but the small budget went a long way when Bigelow headed to the Middle East with her crew and cast of relative unknowns (led by Jeremy Renner) and a vision for one of the most visceral films in years.
Gore Verbinski
What kind of filmmaker is Verbinski? Does he direct comedies? Dramas? Horror? Action movies? The Pirates of the Caribbean director has never let a genre define him, picking projects that allow him to show off his moviemaking prowess without adhering to the strict "rules" of certain said genres. Most shocking was the move Verbinski made after Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl became a massive success. Instead of hopping straight into sequels (which he eventually did a few years later), Verbinski followed Jack Sparrow's first adventure with The Weather Man, a dark existential crisis comedy starring Nicolas Cage. Approximately 1% of the Pirates audience actually saw the movie, but it was Verbinski showing off his character skills — an asset to keeping major blockbusters like Pirates grounded.
Joss Whedon
While his big screen treatment of Serenity wasn't the most successful blockbuster, it did establish the TV-centric Whedon as a director who could take on large-scale action movies. He eventually returned to that world, helming the number two movie of all time, The Avengers, but not before returning to the indie world with the web series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and setting up a micro-budget production company Bellwether Pictures that would develop smaller movies on the side. Sometime between finishing The Avengers and promoting the heck out to the movie, Whedon squeezed in an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing that he shot at his house. It's like staying in film school for the run of his career.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: Summit Entertainment]
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Many an actor has donned the black mask, cowboy hat, and mostly-for-show spurs to become the iconic Western hero, the Lone Ranger. Historically, men like Clayton Moore, Lee Powell, and Chad Michael Murray (seriously) have embodied the character in various media — and now, the world is getting a glimpse at how well Armie Hammer will handle the role.
The star of Disney's new cinematic adaptation of The Lone Ranger has released a new teaser trailer, courtesy of Apple. The video boasts a vivid Old West — complete with breathtaking desert horizons, devilish trains, and macabre nightclub entertainment — as delivered by tested visioneer Gore Verbinski, and plants its quiet heroes, the mysterious Mr. Reid himself (Hammer) and his ever present sidekick, Tonto (Johnny Depp, who looks raring and ready to steal the show in this picture).
Also seen are encouraging players Helena Bonham Carter (as the appropriately draped Red), and Tom Wilkinson (as the big bad wolf at the center of the villainy). Check out the trailer and a slew of new pics from the movie below.
The Lone Ranger comes out July 3, 2013.
[Photo Credit: Walt Disney Pictures]
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Tragedy struck the set of Disney's The Lone Ranger Friday when a crew member passed away during filming of the reboot of the 1950s TV series. According to Disney, who released a statement surrounding his passing:
“We regretfully confirm that a Lone Ranger crew member has passed away after being taken to a local hospital. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this time, and our full support is behind the investigation into the circumstances of this terrible event.”
The studio is not releasing the identity of the crew member; online reports claim the professional drowned on the set. The Lone Ranger, which is directed by Gore Verbinski and stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, is set for release July Fourth weekend 2013.

Here are a few recent collaborators from head make up designer Ve Neill's resume: Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Gore Verbinski and Ron Howard. Big name players call on Neill to supervise the design and construction of elaborate make up creations for some of Hollywood's biggest projects, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Sweeney Todd, Chronicles of Riddick, Eragon, Austin Powers: Goldmember and Constantine (and that's just in recent years).
Her latest is The Hunger Games, the blockbuster hit currently preparing for another number one weekend at the box office. The dystopian sci-fi is in a world of its own, full of extravagant citizens of the Capitol to the grungy inhabitants of District 12, and each one required its own makeup job — and amazingly, especially for a major event picture, Neill had little time to create all the visual styles seen in the movie. "I had two weeks prep on the movie, and we started in the woods," she tells Hollywood.com in an exclusive interview. "I can sit and draw all the pictures in the world, and until you see it on somebody, you’re never really going to know what it looks like. Basically, we did it within a week. We attached the week before we started working there.
Neill's showiest production may be the much-discussed Effie makeup for actress Elizabeth Banks, for which she took careful consideration in conceiving. "She has to go out to the districts, so she can't be totally outrageous. She has to be attractive in her grotesqueness. I really wanted to give her a soft, but off look. You have to take into consideration that her clothes are really flamboyant, and if you put garish makeup on her, she'll look like a clown." While Hunger Games lead fashionista has a distinct look, Neill's subtle work in Peeta' Hunger Games camouflage may be the film's most impressive makeup job.
"It was actually applied by my third Conor McCullagh, because I was already in Charlotte starting work for Capitol City. Before I left I did a test on one of our P.A.’s legs. I mixed together clay and glycerin and a couple of other components to create this mud so that we could actually emulate the rocks that were there. We had done one previous to that where she was in the moss, and it just wasn’t really what we decided we wanted to have, because it should have been something that [Peeta] could have sculpted. It was just basically molding it into a rock.
"[It took] least an hour. To get it on and to mold it all around [Josh Hutcherson], to be all in his features and to really get him laid in their properly, and then to dress all the shrubbery as well — the moss all over the rest of his body and everything — it was probably three people working on it to get in there, because we didn’t want him lying there longer. He was probably getting numb anyway. Then we had the spatter, the speckles to match the rocks. I’m sure it took an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get him completely camouflaged into the rock."
We also have Neill to thank for Wes Bentley's swirly Seneca Crane beard, which director Gary Ross wasn't so keen on. "I had to fight to get that beard on Seneca. The first we did it, [Gary] said, 'Oh my God, Mephistopheles.' I said, 'No, no, he's got to me the ultimate bad guy here!' We had to make him distinctive. He thought it was too extreme." Neill admits that she did have to tone down the wild facial hair a bit. "The little curly cues that were on his check were big "V" cuts. It almost looked like a tribal thing on his face."
With Hunger Games reaping the big bucks at the box office, a sequel is all but a given — and Neill is already hard at work conjuring up new ideas. "I am prepping for the next one. There's a lot of makeup in the second book. I just read it a couple weeks ago and then…all the dyes and the burns. There constantly getting hammered with physical things that are happening. And I have to start thinking about the fact that they're always going to be around water — and that's salt water to boot."
Next up for Neill is the upcoming superhero reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, which features a reptilian baddie: The Lizard. The villainous alter ego of Dr. Curt Connors will be almost fully CG, but Neill made sure to convince that practical makeup was essential to his realization. "I worked with Legacy Effects, they designed the creature in it. Originally he was never supposed to have but one little piece of makeup, and I kind of forced them into doing a lot more. There's definitely practical stuff. Marc [Webb, director] is very collaborative because I said, 'I think that blah blah blah' should happen and he said, 'Ve are you trying to rewrite the script?' and I said, 'No I'm just trying to have it make sense to everybody!' you know, as far as his character goes. And he said, 'that's a great idea.'"
Having worked with so many talented directors over the years, who is Neill's favorite creative partner? "Joel Schumacher. He's very art based. He was a costume designer, an art director, a lot of things before being a director. He let me do whatever I do! The two Batmans [Batman Forever and Batman &amp; Robin] I did with him had a lot of makeup in them!"
The Hunger Games is in theaters now.
Find Matt Patches directly on Twitter @misterpatches and remember to follow @Hollywood_com!
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The new film adaptation The Lone Ranger is a project that has seen some rocky times. The movie, starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp as the Lone Ranger and his sidekick Tonto, respectively, fell in and out of production, finally cementing its fate back in October. And to those naysayers who are still worried it wouldn't happen, we have proof: the first photo from the film featuring Hammer and Depp side by side, in some pretty glorious incarnations of the classic characters.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted the photo earlier today, allowing us a first look at the rugged, mysterious masked man (Hammer) and his lovable right-hand man (Depp), bringing us back to the days when political correctness was eons away. The picture amps up excitement surrounding the developing project. You can be sure (despite his rather sour mug in the picture below) that Depp is especially pleased that progress has reached this point, as he has been quite vocal about his passion for a The Lone Ranger film adaptation since the beginning.
The film is directed by Gore Verbinski, and is expected to hit theaters in May of 2013.
Source: Jerry Bruckheimer

A relatively little-known (or at least little-publicized) factoid about this week’s Mark Wahlberg-starring action thriller Contraband: It's a remake of the 2009 Icelandic film Reykjavík-Rotterdam. The American remake of a foreign film happens pretty often, and while the former is rarely – very rarely – as good as the latter, there have been some pretty solid remakes. Here are our favorites.
The Departed
Based on: Infernal Affairs (China)
Martin Scorsese scored his biggest box office hit and first-ever Best Director Oscar (don’t get us started on how long overdue he was) with this remake of Hong Kong’s similarly themed Infernal Affairs. American moviegoers, critics and award voters were pretty much smitten across the board, but Infernal’s co-director, Andrew Lau, and co-star, Andy Lau, expressed then what we all probably feel now: The Departed is very good, if not great, but it’s not without flaws. And it’s long!
True Lies
Based on: La Totale! (France)
James Cameron’s extended remake of the very like-minded (but much shorter) French film La Totale! represents probably the least serious and stuffy movie of his career. And – thanks to the stunt work commissioned by the director and the action/comedy in his script … and, yes, Ah-nold – maybe his most fun offering.
Funny Games
Based on: Funny Games (Austria)
Both versions were directed by Michael Haneke, and both were divisive, love-it-or-hate-it exercises in testing audiences’ tolerance and bloodlust. Count us among the fascinated (partly because of the stellar performances that are under-appreciated because most people didn't see them through).
The Ring
Based on: Ringu (Japan)
The success of The Ring was largely responsible for the annoying PG-13-horror trend – as well as “Let’s remake every Japanese horror movie”-mania – but most people would agree that Gore Verbinski’s faithful remake of Hideo Nakata’s 1998 Japanese original was entertaining at the least, horrifying at the most.
Insomnia
Based on: Insomnia (Norway)
The most overlooked film in Christopher Nolan’s resume – OK, maybe it’s The Prestige. Or Following...– changed quite a bit from the Norwegian film on which it is based (different setting, different arcs for the main characters, slightly different plots overall), but both are modern-noir, psychological-thriller classics.
Let Me In
Based on: Let the Right One In (Sweden)
Thanks to some fumbling by the marketing team, not many people saw Let Me In, but it’s one of the few remakes that matches, if not exceeds, the original movie on which it is based in terms of quality. Do yourself a favor: Watch both and be the judge.
Brothers
Based on: Brothers (Denmark)
The American version didn’t fare quite as well as Susanne Bier’s original five years earlier, but the star-studded cast (Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman) turned in unforgettable performances.
Scent of a Woman
Based on: Profumo di Donna (Italy)
Al Pacino won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal as the blind Frank Slade in Scent, which scored several other big noms – basically matching the critical praise of the Italian version on which it was based.
12 Monkeys
Based on: La Jetee (France)
It’s hard to believe that an American movie that feels so contemporary and even futuristic could be based on a 1962 short film from France, but that’s the case with Terry Gilliam’s masterful 12 Monkeys and Chris Marker’s influential La Jetee (“The Pier”) – even if the former is merely a loose conceptual update of the latter.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Interview (2007)
Based on: Interview (Netherlands)
The Birdcage (1996)
Based on: La Cage aux Folles (France/Italy)
Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)
Based on: Boudu Suave des Eaux (France)
The Debt (2011)
Based on: The Debt (Israel)

Directed the commercially and critically successful feature "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," based on the Disneyland theme ride

Directed "The Weather Man," starring Nicolas Cage as a Chicago weather man trying to figure out his life

Helmed second feature, "The Mexican"

Directed Naomi Watts in the thriller "The Ring"

Directed the computer-animated comedy "Rango"

Directed the popular Budweiser campaign featuring belching frogs

Returned to direct the third installment, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Feature film debut as director, "Mouse Hunt"

Directed commercial advertisements

Summary

Well-versed in crafting stylish, glossy images and particularly adept at creating suspense, film director Gore Verbinski made short films and worked on award-winning advertising campaigns - winning four Clio awards, one Cannes advertising Silver Lion, and created the Budweiser Frogs - before moving into film. While making a rather inauspicious debut with the family comedy "Mouse Hunt" (1997), Verbinski propelled himself into the upper echelon of film directors with "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), a wild and fun return to a genre Hollywood had long ago abandoned. Thanks to the swashbuckling derring-do and comically over-the-top turn from Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, "Pirates" went on to earn over $650 million in worldwide box office, making it one of the highest-grossing films of all time and giving Verbinski the type of success most directors envy.